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This prescribed subject focuses on military expansion from 1931 to 1941. Two case studies are prescribed, from different regions of the world, and both of these case studies must be studied. The first case study explores Japanese expansionism from 1931 to 1941, and the second case study explores German and Italian expansionism from 1933 to 1940. The focus of this prescribed subject is on the causes of expansion, key events, and international responses to that expansion. Discussion of domestic and ideological issues should therefore be considered in terms of the extent to which they contributed to this expansion, for example, economic issues, such as the long-term impact of the Great Depression, should be assessed in terms of their role in shaping more aggressive foreign policy.

Case studies

Material for detailed study

Case study 1: Japanese expansion in East Asia (1931–1941)

Causes of expansion

The impact of Japanese nationalism and militarism on foreign policy

Japanese domestic issues: political and economic issues, and their impact on foreign relations

Political instability in China

Events

Japanese invasion of Manchuria and northern China (1931)

Sino-Japanese War (1937–1941)

The Three Power/Tripartite Pact; the outbreak of war; Pearl Harbor (1941)

Responses

League of Nations and the Lytton report

Political developments within China—the Second United Front

International response, including US initiatives and increasing tensions between the US and Japan

Case study 2:
German and Italian expansion
(1933–1940)

Causes of expansion

Impact of fascism and Nazism on the foreign policies of Italy and Germany

Impact of domestic economic issues on the foreign policies of Italy and Germany

Changing diplomatic alignments in Europe; the end of collective security; appeasement

Events

German challenges to the post-war settlements (1933–1938)
Italian expansion: Abyssinia (1935–1936); Albania; entry into the Second World War

German expansion (1938–1939); Pact of Steel, Nazi–Soviet Pact and the outbreak of war